Sydney and Auckland were the first major cities in the world to celebrate 2024, with more than a million people watching the fireworks displays, which lit up the sky above Sydney Harbor and the Sky Tower.
As the clock struck midnight in Australia’s largest city, tons of explosives detonated in a 12-minute spectacle that focused on the Sydney Harbor Bridge.
Well over a million people, equivalent to one in five of the city’s residents, watched the spectacle from the shore and from boats in the harbor.
In Auckland, New Zealand, light rain that had fallen on the city of 1.7 million people all day dissipated as forecast at midnight, before the countdown on an illuminated screen near the top of the communications tower and observation from 328 meters.
The ongoing wars in Ukraine, Gaza and increased tensions in some parts of the world are affecting New Year’s Eve celebrations in different ways, with many cities increasing security and some places already canceling the day before.
More police were deployed in Sydney than ever before. The riverside area has been the scene of pro-Palestinian protests after candles at the Sydney Opera House were lit with the colors of the Israeli flag in response to the October 7 attack by the extremist group Hamas, which sparked the war in the Palestinian territories. Gaza Strip. .
In New York, authorities and party organizers said they were prepared to guarantee the safety of the tens of thousands of people expected to flood Times Square, in the heart of Manhattan.
Security will also be strengthened in several European cities, and in the case of France, 90,000 law enforcement officers have been deployed for this purpose, the head of internal intelligence services, Céline Berthon, announced on Friday.
There will be about 6,000 police officers in Paris, where more than 1.5 million people are expected for the festivities on the Champs-Elysées.
About 4,500 police officers are expected to maintain order in Berlin.
In Russia, military actions in Ukraine overshadowed end-of-year celebrations, with the usual fireworks display and concert on Moscow’s Red Square canceled like last year.
After a bomb attack in the center of the Russian border city of Belgorod killed 24 people on Saturday, some local authorities across Russia also canceled their usual fireworks shows, including in Vladivostok.
In Pakistan, the government has banned all New Year celebrations as a show of solidarity with the Palestinians.
Source: DN
